Steering-gear for road-machines.



F. E. ARNDT. STEERING GEAR FOR ROAD MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1,1915.

1, 166,036. Patented Dec. 28, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

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APPLICATION FILED SEPT-1,19l5- Patented Dec. 28, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO., WASHINGTON, D. c.

UMZEE TATE PATENT @f l lfiE.

FRANKrIN E. .AR'NDT, or GALION, 0IIIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE GALION IRON wormsAND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF GALION, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

s'rnnniNc-GEAn on Bonn-MACHINES.

icense.

specification Of Letters Past.

Masai nee. 2 8, i915.

Applicationfiled Septeiiiher 1, 1915. Serial No. 48,483.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknownthat I, FRANKLiN E. ARNDT, a citizen of the United Sta-tes'ofAmerica, residing at Galion, in the county of Crawford and State ofOhio, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Steering-Gearfor Road-Machines, of which the following is aspecification. a a

This invention comprehends certain new and useful improvements insteering gear for road machines and relates particularly to improvementsin that type of steering gear for which Letters Patent of the UnitedStates Number 1,130,471 were issued March 2, 1915. As is wellknown' tothose familiar with the operation and practical'use of ma chines of thischaracter, it is customary to draw the machine along the road by meansof a traction engine which travels in the middle of the road to obtainthe'best traction effect whereas the road machine must travel at thesides of the road and means must therefore be provided, to secure thebest results, whereby the line of travel of the road machine maybeeasily maintained regardless of the relative position of the tractionengine. For this purpose, the road machine is provided with a draft poledesigned to be connected to the traction engine and a relatively shorttongue, and means are provided whereby the operator, standing forexample upon the platform at'the rear of the road machine, may manuallyadjust the position of the tongue relative to the draft pole, so thatthe desired line of draft of the road machine may be. easilymaintainedfirrespective of the angular or oblique position which isassumedby the'draftpole. Difiie culty hasheretofore been encountered,with as required, was incapable 'of 'permittingthedraft pole to'makevery sharp turns as for example when going around a corner, rit beingsometimes necessary to turn thetongue through an arc of at least 30 0degrees and consequently someof the parts hadto beam:

shippedwhilejthe turn was being made and again l'easseniblechwhichmanifestly was a source of inconveniencejand detracted-from thesmoothworking qualitiespf the machine.

The presentinvention aimsto entirely do away with the diff culties abovereferred to andto provide. a novel and useful construction of flexibleshaft which will insure the proper working of the parts at alltimes andwhich can be easily and cheaply manufactured, which will be durable, andwhich will not be likely to get out of order.

WVith these and other objects in view as will more fully appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions,arrangements and combinations of theparts that I shall hereinafter fullydescribe and claim.

For a full understanding of the 'invention reference is to behad to thefollowing description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is aside elevation of so much of a road machine as is necessary to indicatethe character'of the machine and to impart a thorough" understanding ofthe improvements of .the present invention. Fig. 2 (Sheet 2) is aperspective view in thenature of a diagram showing the draft pole turnedat a sharp angle to the main supporting frame of the machine Fig. 3 is aplan view of portions of the steering gear hereinafter specificallyreferred to.. Fig. 1 is a detail transverse sectionalview. through theworm gearing employed. Figf5 is a detailperspective view of theswingingbracket and its arch. Fig.6 is a detail View of one of the shaftsections. Fig. 7 is asimilar View of another section of the flexibleoperating shaft of the apparatus. .Fig. 8 illustrates still another secQ l Of said shaft; ,and Fig. 9 is a detail view of a swinging arm empd...

Corresponding and like partsare referred to in the following descriptionanddesignatedin thedifferent views of the accompanying drawing by likereference characters. i

Referringtothe drawings, the numeral 1 designates the frame bars of aroad machine, 2 thedraft polewhich is provided at its forwardend withaclevis 3 whereby it may bereadily. secured to the draft bar of atraction engine and 1 designates the relatively shoittongue of themachine by theturning ofwhicli to the right or to the left the frontground or traveling wheels 5 are steered.

Carried by .the tongue 4, as will more fully appear byreference toPatent Number 1,130,-171 above mentioned, is an arcuate bar 6 to theends of which levers 7 are pivotally connected intermediate of theirends as in dicated at 8, said levers having inwardly turned hooked ends9 to which the ends of a sprocket chain 10 are connected; and secured tothe other and rear ends of the levers 7 are spring tension members 11designed, in an evident manner, to hold the chain 10 taut and compensatefor any shocks. The chain 10 passes over and across a pinion 12 securedto the lower end of a vertically disposed spindle 13 mounted in a gearcasing 1% supported upon the pole 2 and the spindle 13 carries at itsupper end a worm gear 15 which meshes with a worm 16 formed on orsecured to a longitudinally disposed shaft section 17 which forms amember of the flexible operating shaft designated A as a whole. Thisshaft, as best illustrated in Fig. 1, extends rearwardly over and abovethe frame work of the road machine and is provided at its rear end witha hand wheel 18 arranged in convenient proximity to the platform (notshown) at the rear of the machine, upon which the operator stands tocontrol not only the steering gear but the other parts of the machine,as will be clearly understood by those familiar with this class ofmachinery.

From the foregoing it will be noted that by turning the shaft 9 in therequired direction, the spindle 13 will be turned and the chain 10,through the instrumentality of the spur pinion 12, will be rotated tomove the chain 10 laterally and thereby cause the'tongue st to be swungto the right or to the left as desired. By the use of the worm gearingwithin the casing 14 it is obvious that no separate or independentlocking devices are necessary to maintain the parts in their adjustedpositions which is an incident of advantage as more fully set forth inmy prior patent above referred to.

The present invention relates more particularly, as indicated at theoutset of the specification, to the construction and arrangement ofparts or members of the flexible shaft A, whereby the machine may beturned around relatively sharp corners with facility and without thenecessity of unshipping any of the parts and I shall now proceed todescribe these features in detail.

The rearmost member or section of the flexible shaft A and to which thehand wheel 18 is fastened is designated 19 and is in the form of a rodmounted for rotation upon its longitudinal axis in a rear arch 20 and anintermediate arch 21 straddling and supported upon the arched frame bars1 as best illustrated in Fig. 2. The intermediate section or member ofthe shaft 9 is designated 22 and is formed of telescopic sections 23 and24, the tubular section 23 having the section 2-l extensibly mountedtherein and both members are so shaped as best illustrated in Fig. 7 asto compel them to rotate together which is of course necessary for thesuccessful operation of the shaft. The adjoining ends of the shaftmembers 19 and 22 are connected together by a universal joint 25 and thelower forward end of the intermediate member 22 is similarlyconnected asat 26 to a laterally swinging arm 27 mounted to rotate in a bracket 28which is formed with relatively short and long arms as clearlyillustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 5, and pivotally mounted eccentrically(that is, nearer one arm than the other) upon a transversely disposedbracket arch 29 secured in any desired way to the forward portions ofthe frame bars 1. The foremost member 30 of the shaft A is liksewisetelescopic in nature and comprises a tubular section 31 and a solidsection 32 extensibly mounted therein, a spring 33 being coiled aroundthe section 32 and received within the section 31 and exerting such atension on the sections as to contract them or draw one within-theother. This member 30 is connected to the lower end of the forwardly anddownwardly inclined swinging arm 27 by means of a universal joint 3% atone end and at its other end is connected by a universal joint to theshort shaft section or member 17 carrying the worm 16, before referredto. Preferably the arm 27 is-journaled in the laterally swinging bracket28 nearer one end of the arm than the other, as clearly shown in thedrawings, whereby the forwardly and downwardly projecting portion ofsaid arm, where it is connected to the foremost member 30 of theflexible shaft A may project laterally out over the frame work of themachine, to provide a clearance so as to permit the telescopic member 30to pass under the frame, if required in the turning movement and theextensible or telescopic member 22 also cooperates in this movement ofthe parts, as is manifest, whereby the machine may be turned aboutwithout the necessity of unshipping any of the parts and without anymembers binding or becoming dislocated. By providing a spring 33 within.

the telescopic member 30, the same tending to contract or close by thismeans, it is held properly rigid in its work and is prevented fromswinging around which would render the slip joints liable to come apart.

From the foregoing description in. connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it will be seen that I have provided arvery efficient as wellas durable steering gear which will overcome the disadvantages set forthnear the outset of the specification and by the use ofwhich the partswill be always maintained in proper operative operation to each otherand without danger of binding in any way or of coming apart.

WVhile the accompanying drawings illustrate what I believe to be thepreferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited thereto, but that various changes may be madein the construction, arrangement and proportions of the parts withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention as defined in the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. In a road machine, steering mechanism including a draft pole, atongue, a connection between said draft pole and tongue whereby thelatter may be turned relatively to the former, an operating shaft forsaid connection, said shaft embodying extensible members, a rotatablearm having universal joint connection with said members and locatedbetween the same, a bracket arch, and a laterally swinging bracketmounted upon said arch and in which Said arm is journaled.

2. In a road machine, steering mechanism including a. draft pole, atongue, a connection between the two whereby the tongue may be moved todifferent angular adjust ments relative to the pole, a flexibleoperating shaft for said connection, said shaft embodying members eachof which is construct ed of telescopic sections and one of said membersbeing provided with a spring tending to close its sections together, anarm mounted between said extensible members and having universal jointconnection therewith, and a laterally swinging bracket in which said armis mounted for rotary move ment.

3. In a road machine, steering mechanism including a draft pole, atongue, a connection between the two whereby the tongue may be moved todifferent oblique positions relative to the pole, a flexible operatingshaft for said connection, said shaft embodying a rear rotatable memberadapted to be manually turned, supporting means for said member, anintermediate member having universal joint connection with the rearmember, said intermediate member consisting of sections telescopicallyconnected together, a forwardly and downwardly inclined arm havinguniversal oint connection with the forward end of the intermediatemember, supporting means for said arm permitting the same to be turnedlaterally and allowing for the rotary movement of said arm, and aforward member having universal joint connection at its rear end withthe forwardly and downwardly extending end of said arm, said last namedmember being also constructed in telescopically arranged sections.

4. In a road machine embodying frame bars, a tongue, a draft pole and aconnection between the tongue and draft pole whereby the former may beturned to different oblique positions relative to the latter, anoperating shaft for said connection, said shaft embodying a plurality ofmembers having universal joint connections between their ends, saidmembers including a tele scoping intermediate member, atelescopingforward member and an arm between said members, a bracket arch carriedby the frame bars, and a bracket pivotally mounted near one side uponsaid arch, the arm being journaled near one end in said bracket, as andfor the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

FRANKLIN E. ARNDT. Witnesses A. L. STEvnNs, DEAN C. TALBOTT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

